Deere says SEC probing its activities overseas

Deere & Co said U.S. securities regulators are probing the farm equipment maker for possible violations of laws on activities in other countries.

Deere said it is cooperating with the investigation.

The Wall Street Journal said the Securities and Exchange Commission is looking at whether Deere violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which bars bribes to foreign officials.

The newspaper said the SEC was focusing on payments made in Russia and nearby countries.

Deere said that on July 25 it was asked to voluntarily produce documents relating to its activities, as well as those of third parties, in certain foreign countries. It said it was cooperating with the SEC request.

The SEC has informed Deere that this is a nonpublic fact-finding inquiry to determine whether there have been any violations of the federal securities laws, and that the inquiry and document request do not mean that the SEC has concluded that Deere has broken the law, Deere said in a statement emailed to Reuters.

(Reporting by Sakthi Prasad in Bangalore and Nick Zieminski in New York; Editing by Anshuman Daga and John Wallace)

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